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Activists and residents concerned about lack of communication from Ascension Wisconsin on St. Joseph hospital

Nate Gilliam, an organizer for the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, was one of the first activists to mobilize when he heard Ascension Wisconsin planned to cut services to St. Joseph hospital a year ago.(Photo: Talis Shelbourne/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Ascension Wisconsin got cheers and grumbles as the St. Joe's Accountability Commission celebrated its efforts to prevent the nonprofit from cutting services at St. Joseph hospital, formerly Wheaton Franciscan-St. Joseph, while voicing new concerns.

In April 2018, Ascension Wisconsin proposed cuts to St. Joseph, pointing to losses at the hospital of $33.4 million in its 2015 and 2016 fiscal years, according to the most recent information available through the Wisconsin Hospital Association.

After resistance from community members and local politicians, Ascension paused its plan to make cuts and more recently announced the opening of a Women, Infants and Children (WIC) office at St. Joseph to offer nutrition education and pregnancy-related health care.

But as Markasa Tucker, leader of the African American Roundtable described it, keeping St. Joseph's existing services was a small battle in the war for more community-responsive health care.

"We hope that Ascension will be willing to partner with the community to develop a bold plan for advancing health equity on the city's north side," she said. "We still haven't heard from St. Joe's in regards to what is happening or with Ascension."

Service complaints

Several people attending the community meeting Thursday night voiced concerns with the existing services and hopes that new ones will be provided.

Clayborn Benson, who hosted the event at the Wisconsin Black Historical Museum, described several issues he experienced firsthand at St. Joseph: limited services, poor parking options and negative attitudes.

"Yes, I've gone and had confrontations with the receptionist at the front," he explained.

Benson also noted the limitation in services isn't necessarily due to equipment, but doctors who prefer to practice in their own offices.

"Doctors pull their services out of the hospital," he said. "They invest money into their own places. When people come, they say we'd prefer to serve you at our office."

Benson said he experienced that with his own colostomy doctor who went to a gastrointestinal provider after practicing out of St. Joseph's for year.

Sally Stern, 70, once worked as nurses' assistant. When her father went to St. Joseph, Stern said she was "very unhappy with it because I saw things I didn't like."

She said they didn't help him eat his food, failed to keep his room clean and didn't help him when he fell in the parking lot.

She also said St. Joseph should provide care for gunshot victims, given that Froedtert is the only adult Level I Trauma Center in eastern Wisconsin.

Care vs. profit

Not every speaker had bad experiences at St. Joseph.

Patrice Gransberry said she always received great care at St. Joseph.

"I have doctors there, the urgent care is there and they're pretty quick to see me," she said, noting that her daughter gave birth to all seven of her children there.

Danell Cross, the executive director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, said she expects Ascension to make a serious investment in the community as a nonprofit by addressing the lead problem and engaging young African Americans in the medical profession.

But she also said she doesn't believe Ascension is thinking like a nonprofit.

Jack Hanson, a research and policy analyst at Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization, doesn't think it is, either.

Jack Hanson, a research and policy analyst at Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization, noted during his presentation at a community meeting about Ascension St. Joseph hospital that while Ascension lost money at certain hospitals it had a net profit of $16.8 million for all four facilities in Wisconsin.
"They lost $1.7 million in Milwaukee-area hospitals. Then they paid their CEO $13.6 million. So if they were really concerned about breaking even, they could gut that guy's salary by 10%," he said.gives a presentation which shows, in part, a list of Ascension employees' salaries.(Photo: Talis Shelbourne/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

He noted that although the company lost money due to certain hospitals, they had a net profit of $16.8 million for all four facilities in Wisconsin.

"They lost $1.7 million in Milwaukee-area hospitals. Then they paid their CEO $13.6 million. So if they were really concerned about breaking even, they could gut that guy's salary by 10%," he said.

Hanson also pointed out the company invests $6 billion of its profit in high-risk investments.

"They could do with that money whatever they want; they've chosen to use it on risky things," he said.

Instead, she said they should be focused on providing community-specific care.

In a statement, Ascension Wisconsin said it is concerned about providing such care.

Ascension highlights initiatives

The health system said it had conducted 161 community interviews and noted several emerging themes, including job training, health equity and chronic disease prevention.

Ascension also pointed to the opening of the WIC center, commitment to the 414Life program to address gun violence and a program to provide recovery coaches to overdose patients as evidence of investment in the community.